Samuel Medley 1738-1799

This year (1998) sees the two hundredth anniversary of the Baptist preacher and hymn writer Samuel Medley. He was born on June 23, 1738, at Cheshunt in Hertfordshire and was from a respectable and well off Christian family but rebelled against this background. His father was tutor to the Duke of Montague and later ran his own school in Cheshunt. Samuel himself was taught by his grandfather, William Tonge, an Enfield teacher and a deacon at Andrew Gifford’s church in Holborn. At the age of 14 was apprenticed to an oilman in the City of London. This work was not to Samuel’s liking.

In 1755 war broke out between England and France and a law was quickly passed allowing apprentices to complete their indentures in the Royal Navy. To Medley this seemed like the perfect answer to his unhappy situation. He could now be like his two older brothers whom he had often envied. He too now determined on a glorious naval career.

And so at the age of 17 we find him aboard the 74 gun Royal Navy ship The Buckingham. The ship’s captain had also been a pupil of Medley’s grandfather and as Medley was full of enthusiasm he did what he could to further his career. Soon the captain and officers transferred to a similar ship called The Intrepid and Medley was made Captain’s mate. The Intrepid was active in the Mediterranean for the next few years. During this time Medley gladly had many opportunities to improve his education but also, sadly, to go on in the way of sin that he had grown increasingly accustomed to. Despite his Christian upbringing he soon forgot it. With scarce a thought for serious matters he continually sought out the pleasures of sin.

 

Conversion

Things continued in this vain until he reached the age of 21. In that year (1759) an important sea battle was fought on the Portuguese Coast near Port Lagos. It was Medley’s job to sit on board and write down details of the action between the English and French fleets. It was a bloody battle. It is said that there was so much blood spilt that the French used barrels of flour on the decks to save people from slipping over. As the battle progressed a cannon ball shattered the mizzen-mast close to where Medley was. Shortly after that he saw a wounded soldier being carried by one of his shipmates. A cannon ball hit both and they fell into the hold below.

Then suddenly the mate cried out to him that he had been wounded. Medley had not realised it until his attention was called to the fact. A large part of his leg had been shot away and he was in a serious condition. He had to be helped to walk to the surgeon. He had lost a great deal of blood. The British were victorious in the battle but Medley was unwillingly confined to his bed. Fired by this victory his ambition ran high but the leg did not heal properly and he became quite depressed about the situation.

After some time the ship’s surgeon had to inform him that there was gangrene and that his leg would have to be amputated. This was something of a shock to the wild young man but remembering his grandfather and father’s example he thought he had best pray. He had been leading a very profligate life but perhaps it was not too late. He remembered that he had seen a Bible in his chest and sent a servant to get it.

All that night he read the Word and prayed that the Lord would save his leg. Most unexpectedly, by the next morning leg was found to be healing. Quite a change came about in Medley but before he had recovered he began to fall into old habits. He eventually returned home to stay with his grandfather who would often read to him from the Scriptures and encourage him to seek the Lord. One evening he read a sermon by Isaac Watts on Isaiah 42:6, 7. It was this that God used to finally bring him to salvation.

 

Ministry

Medley then left the navy and opened a school in Covent Garden and later Soho. Feeling a call to the ministry, he began to study under Dr Andrew Gifford, pastor of the Eagle Street Church, Holborn, London, where Medley had become a member. In 1767, he became pastor at a Particular Baptist church in Watford. In 1772, he began his main ministry at the Particular Baptist church in Byrom Street, Liverpool. He was pastor there for the next 27 years. He had a very happy and effective ministry especially among the many seafarers with whom he came into contact. The year after his arrival the building had to be extended and in 1789 a new and enlarged chapel was erected.

In his latter years Medley’s health declined and on his annual trip to preach in London in Autumn 1798 he became quite unwell. He eventually died in Liverpool on July 17, 1799. In his last illness he wrote for himself an epitaph in Latin which has been translated,

 

An unworthy preacher of the gospel,

formerly pastor of this church of Christ,

by nature and practice a miserable sinner,

but redeemed by grace and the blood of the Saviour,

 has here laid down his body,

waiting for the bright and morning star.

Come then Lord Jesus.

 

Hymns

Medley is best remembered today as a hymn writer. Nine of his hymns are found in Grace Hymns. Among his best known are I know that my redeemer lives, Awake, my soul, in joyful lays (also both found in Christian Hymns) and O could I speak the matchless worth. He often included a refrain in his hymns or something similar. In Awake, my soul the verses end His lovingkindness, O how free! then great! then strong! then good! and finally His lovingkindness changes not. God shall alone the refuge be includes the lines Too wise to be mistaken, he, Too good be unkind or something similar in each verse. Hear gracious God a sinner’s cry! has the one line refrain O God, be merciful to me! I know that my redeemer lives repeats the key phrase He lives several times. His hymns first appeared in pamphlet form but from 1785 began to appear in bound volumes (Hymns, Bristol and Bradford). Later in life a collection of over 200 hymns of varying quality appeared. O could I speak the matchless worth includes the distinctive lines, not printed in all hymn books,

O could I speak the matchless worth,

O could I sound the glories forth,

Which in my Saviour shine!

I’d soar, and touch the heavenly strings

And vie with Gabriel while he sings In notes almost divine.

What a worthy sentiment for all true believers!

This article first appeared in Grace Magazine

What about giving to charity?

If you are a Christian you will want to give to charity. For the most part, you will want to give directly to the work of the Lord, both for the spiritual advance of the kingdom and in support of more practical needs. As a general rule, the more personal our giving the better it is. There are times, however, when we may wish to give less personally to charities of a more secular sort. Such giving is, on the face of it, a fine thing. However, there are a number of pitfalls to avoid.

 

1. Make sure you are giving to a genuine charity

There are plenty of examples of people trying to make a fast buck or even a fast thousand bucks by questionable means. Ask for some sort of identification where necessary and ask to see official literature from the charity. Read the small print too. An undercover reporter revealed recently how one organisation was regularly sending out collectors ostensibly to raise money for charity. However, although the laminated card each collector carries boldly lists eight charities that the company claims to support and says that ‘Nightingale continually aim to donate to a wide variety of national charities’, the small print at the very bottom reveals that ‘Nightingale is not a charity and does not represent any charity organisation’. In fact very little money goes to charity.

There are well over 180,000 registered charities in the UK and each of these has an official number. Ask for an address and do some digging if you are suspicious. Charitiesdirect.com is a good place to start. Evasive answers to questions are a bad sign as is an aggressive approach. Do not feel under pressure. Most charities need your money just as much tomorrow as they do today. A helpful website says ‘Watch for any appeal for contributions which resembles a bill, invoice or statement of account due. Any such appeal must bear a clear and noticeable disclaimer stating that it is an appeal and that you are under no obligation to pay unless you accept the offer.’ We especially ought to be careful over appeals following a national or overseas disaster. One final tip is to look closely at the charity name - some unscrupulous outfits will choose a name extremely close to that of a well-known charity, and some careless readers will be conned.

 

2. Discover what proportion of your money will go to meeting the real need

In many High Streets we currently see young people seeking donors for various large charities. It is little appreciated that they are working not for the charities but for hired agencies. The fees they charge can be as much as 90% of all that you give in the first year of donations after signing on the dotted line. No wonder the practice has been referred to as ‘chugging’ (charity mugging).

Several charities are guilty of unnecessarily channelling exorbitant amounts into administration and other overheads. This can be a failing in ‘Christian’ charities as much as in any other sort. Even in respectable charities like Oxfam or Shelter only around half the money from voluntary income will actually go to direct charity work (52p in the pound in the case of Oxfam and 49p in the pound in the case of Shelter - that was the case in 2004. Both now claim 80p in the pound). Last year (2003) the NSPCC was slammed for using £20m of its annual £75m income on public education and campaigning rather than direct services. This compares unfavourably with an organisation like TEAR Fund where only 10% of voluntary income goes on such things.

The American organisation Charity Navigator discovered in 2002 that some 14% of organisations surveyed devoted less than 70% of their budgets to their programmes and services and 6% devoted less than 60%.

In a notorious case that eventually reached court Breast Cancer Relief was found to be spending 90% of its income on fundraising, selling competition tickets and operating nationwide street collections. Less than 10% of its multi-million pound income was spent on charitable work.

 

3. Make sure you know what you are giving to

The sight of the ‘Moonies’ asking for money for ‘charity’ on our streets is a much less familiar sight today but it is amazing what still goes on. I was shopping before Christmas when a young girl with a lovely smile and a plastic bucket was happily receiving money from shoppers. When I asked what she was collecting for it was revealed that she was from the local ‘prosperity gospel’ church and was raising funds for a church building for a nearby congregation! Most contributors were unaware of this – and did not seem to care anyway. It is important that we are always clear exactly where the money we give is going.

 

4. Make sure this is a charity you really wish to support

I remember a few years ago attending a local school function and being asked to give in support of the NSPCC. Most present thought it quite appropriate to donate to an organisation with a name for preventing cruelty to children. However, the specific request on this occasion was to help fund their campaign to ban all corporal punishment of children, something that no Bible reading evangelical would surely want to do.

In our house there is usually some excitement when Children in need or Red Nose Day comes around and our boys are keen to take part. No doubt most money raised goes to worthy causes. In recent years, however, the question of whether any money is used to pay for abortions has been raised. It has been denied by the organisers but it is impossible to know exactly how all the money is spent. It may be of interest to know that in this instance it is quite acceptable to specify that money given to the Red Nose charity is for, say, the relief of poverty. Certainly we must be vigilant as to how money we give is going to be spent. (We should add that no Christian causes can benefit from such charities as they do not accept the gay rights clauses). 

In the case of UNICEF and other charities there seems to be evidence that they are at times involved in promoting abortion and similar practices in the name of eradicating child poverty. Whenever we find references to ‘family planning’ in literature we need to enquire more closely as to just what is meant.

More broadly, some have raised serious doubts over whether the cancer research charities are really worth supporting in their present form. This present writer is not competent to comment but one can see the issue.

 

5. Try to give in an efficient way

In most cases it is wise to avoid giving cash. If you are giving a relatively small amount, consider how much it will cost the charity to process what you are giving. For example, if you send a pound and expect the gift to be acknowledged your gift will have very little impact indeed. The government helpfully provides ways of efficient giving that will increase the amount that a charity receives, where the donor is a taxpayer. Some have scruples about this but it is surely wise to make use of such opportunities.

Corporate Self-examination

 

In 1932 Picasso painted ‘Girl before a mirror’ in a style typical of him. It is clear that this woman is not looking into an ordinary mirror but one that reveals things about her not obvious on the surface. When we look at ourselves in a mirror we get some idea of what we look like outwardly. Without a mirror it is both possible and necessary for us to look at ourselves and make a similar assessment of how we look inwardly. This is done by means of self-examination. Socrates famously said that an unexamined life is not worth living. Some are forever checking their stocks and shares; others are the same with their lottery numbers. If we are wise we will often be checking on our souls. Hebrews 3:12, 13 is a call to corporate self-examination.

 

Personal responsibility

The writer calls the Hebrews brothers. He assumes they are what they say they are. However, anyone who claims to be a Christian has a duty to make sure he is. He cannot assume it. See to it, brothers. A wife asks ‘Shall I lock the doors and put the cat out before bed?’. Her husband says ‘No, I’ll see to it’. He will do all that is necessary. So Christians are urged to ‘do all that is necessary’ to make sure their hearts are not sinful, faithless, turning from God. Not all that glisters is gold and not all who claim to be Christians are. Remember Jesus’s warning that many will say Lord, Lord on Judgement Day. It is the responsibility of every professing Christian to realise this and take steps to examine himself.

 

The need to examine our hearts

It is not ‘See to it that none of you has a sinful life style or thought life.’ I am sure the writer would be happy to say such things but what he actually talks about is the heart. By the heart is meant the whole person. He is urging examination of the whole of ones life. How important. A superficial examination will do no good. We need to dig deep. We shrink from this painful duty but it must be done. It takes time and effort and if we rush through life at break neck speed it will be squeezed out. Most of us find time to brush our teeth. Why? We do not want rotten teeth. There is time for self-examination.

What to look for

In particular, he says See to it that none of you has - a sinful, unbelieving heart – the root sin. With it goes a heart that turns away from the living God. It is possible to be a ‘believer’ and yet have a sinful, unbelieving heart. A person may profess to be a Christian but conduct his life on principles of sin and unbelief or disbelief. This sort of unbelief, says Owen, is ‘the greatest provocation of God that a creature can make himself guilty of’. That a pagan in some far flung dark corner should not believe is unsurprising but that people should hear the preaching of the gospel, profess to believe it and then still go on in sinful, unbelief - what wickedness that is. Yet it happens. Many think a lack of faith no great sin but here it is labelled as sinful, evil. It is. Imagine a husband with no trust in his wife, a child with no confidence in its parents, a community with none in the banks.

This is why it is possible for a ‘believer’ to turn from the living God. Unbelievers turn aside to idols, of course, and worship things that are not, but the professing believer can fall into such ways too. No true believer can finally fall away, but it is possible for an apparent believer to turn from God, even though he has so many privileges and opportunities. Think of Judas. That is what happened in the desert when the Children of Israel turned from the living God to idols. How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

 

Corporate responsibility

Interestingly, he speaks of helping one another. But encourage one another daily, he says. We tend to think of self-examination as a rather solitary task but it has a corporate dimension too. We need to help each other in this. We need to exhort or encourage one another so that we are not self-deceived. This is part of what church is all about. Obviously, those who are preachers have a duty to preach on such subjects and to make clear that self-deception is possible. But it is not only preachers. We all have a duty to each other – to encourage faith and godliness and to discourage hypocrisy and unbelief. Are we taking this responsibility seriously?

 

Urgent

The writer says this is a daily thing not just for Sundays. Further, he says that we are to do this as long as it is called Today. This takes us back to Psalm 95, Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. For the Christian there are really only two days – Judgement Day and Today, the day of God’s grace. We are alive today by God’s grace. If today we will hold back from hardening our hearts and put our trust in the Lord, we can be certain all will be well. As for tomorrow, we cannot be sure whether that will be a day of grace or of judgement. So there is an urgency about this work of encouragement. Now is the day of salvation; today is the day of grace. It is our duty to do all we can to support the faith of those who profess to be our brothers and sisters. We are a team, a body, an interconnected whole.

 

Self-deception

Why the emphasis on mutual support? Surely, all we need is faith in Christ and all will be well. To speak like that is to forget sin’s nature. We need such encouragement so that none are hardened by sin’s deceitfulness (trickery). Sin is thoroughly deceitful. It presents itself as something it is not, promising much but giving little and constantly mutating so that we scarcely recognise it for what it is at times. Like the devil, transforming himself into an angel of light, sin pretends to be sweetness and light when within are maggots and worms. A man promises the world to a pure woman. He will be true and do her no harm. They make vows in church. But before long he has a mistress and physically harms his wife. What deceivers are about! So it is with sin. How easy to be deceived by it and think we are Christians when we are not or think we have no reason to be concerned about our spiritual state when we have every reason. Sin told the Hebrews they needed a more ancient religion. Today it says there are many ways to heaven; no-one can be holy in the present climate; good intentions are enough, etc. If you leave it, bread left will go hard – so will our hearts if we neglect them. See to it that no-one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.